1. Field of the Invention
A liquid egg blend, adapted to be kept under refrigeration, is useful for preparing egg dishes, such as scrambled eggs, omelets and souffles. It is particularly suited for those restricted cholesterol intake diet, such as certain heart patients, and for those whose diets are limited with respect to fat and/or calories.
2. Prior Art
Gorman (U.S. Pat. No. 3,207,609) provides a low fat, low calorie and low cholesterol dry egg white product in powder form and which comprises from about 30 to 50 percent by weight of dried egg albumen (dry egg white), about 15 to 30 percent by weight of water-binding carbohydrates, from about 15 to 30 percent by weight of agglomerated milk solids and from about 3 to 30 percent by weight of edible oil. The resulting product, after hydration and frying, is described by Melnick (U.S. Pat. No. 3,563,765) as "so different from scrambled eggs in odor, texture and taste as to be unacceptable to most users". Melnick's disclosure is directed to dried egg yolk solids from which at least about 50 percent (but not more than 90 percent) of the original fat and at least about 50 percent of the original cholesterol have been extracted.
According to Jones (U.S. Pat. No. 3,475,180) "considerable emphasis has been placed upon low-calorie and low-fat diets. Since essentially all fat, and a large proportion of the calorific content, of whole eggs is contributed by the egg yolk, restricted use of egg yolks is indicated for those persons adopting low-calorie and/or low-fat diets. When attempts were made to produce palatable products using egg whites alone, the results have been notably unsatisfactory". Jones thus devised a low-calorie high-protein dried egg product having a reduced fat content and comprising (by weight) an intimate admixture (pH adjusted to at least 9) of approximately 150 parts of liquid egg white, 30 to 100 parts of liquid whole egg, 8 to 16 parts of non-fat milk solids and/or sweet whey solids, 0.5 to 4 parts of isolated vegetable protein solids and 0.1 to 2 parts of hydrophilic thixotropic material (sodium carboxymethylcellulose, pregelled starch, methyl cellulose, guar gum, gum arabic, gum tragacanth, agar-agar, carrageen, alginic acid and/or alginic acid salts). He makes it clear that the egg yolk is required for a fully satisfactory product.
Greenlee (U.S. Pat. No. 1,438,232) is directed to an emulsified egg-white product to replace egg yolks in baking. To make such a product, he adds fat to his egg whites. He may also add protein solids. A typical composition according to his invention contains 62 percent egg white, 24 percent cotton seed oil, 10 percent sugar, 3.9 percent milk powder and 0.1 percent vanilla and color. Cotton seed oil is used as the principal replacement for the yolk; calories and fats are not eliminated. Sugar is employed as a preservative and to emulsify the composition, thus adding undesirable calories and carbohydrates. This presence of sugar renders the product unsuitable for the preparation of scrambled eggs and some types of omelets. The Greenlee product is for the use of bakers (rather than for use as a substitute for fresh eggs in preparing egg dishes) and is not suitable, because of the presence of fats and carbohydrates, for patients on a restricted carbohydrate intake diet, such as persons on a restricted calorie diet.
Furber directed his attention to the artificial production of the white of an egg (U.S. Pat. No. 458,419), to a substitute for egg yolks (U.S. Pat. No. 458,420) and to a substitute for whole eggs (U.S. Pat. No. 471,236), but none of these approximates the compositions contemplated by the present invention.